CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwire - April 7, 2011) - Gradient Principal Barbara D. Beck was invited by the Senate Subcommittee on Manufacturing, Commerce, and Trade as an expert in toxicology and human health risk assessment to provide scientific testimony regarding a proposed bill, "Discussion Draft of a Bill that would Revise the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act." The hearing was held April 7, 2011 in Washington, DC.

Lead limits stipulated by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008 (H. R. 4040) have forced many manufacturers to stop selling certain products because they contain components exceeding the current 300 ppm total lead standard. The CPSIA amendment, which proposes to establish standards based on actual exposure of children to lead from a product, rather than the lead concentration in the product, represents an improvement over the present version of the CPSIA. Dr. Beck emphasized that an exposure and risk-based approach is a scientifically supportable and health protective approach to establish lead standards in consumer products. In April 2009, Dr. Beck previously provided testimony before a Congressional panel on the scientific merits of modifying the CPSIA to include a risk-based standard for lead in consumer products.

Dr. Beck received an A.B. in Biology from Bryn Mawr College and a doctorate in Molecular Biology and Microbiology from Tufts University. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT), Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences (FATS), and is a past president of the Academy of Toxicologists. Before joining Gradient, Dr. Beck was Chief of Air Toxics Staff in Region I EPA and also held positions at the Harvard School of Public Health and Tufts University School of Medicine. At Gradient, Dr. Beck has worked for the private and the public sector on many projects involving exposure, toxicology, and risk associated with lead, arsenic, and many other constituents.